Auxiliary tension device for shock-absorbers.



y H. R.' HARRISON. AUXILIARY TENSION DEVICE PoR sHooK ABsoRBERs. 'APPLIOATIONfILEDA'ULY 1912.

1,051,403. l Patented .13.11.28, 1913.

f claro the following to be a full, clear, and kexact description ofthe invention, suchV as lib HOWARD MBESN', 0F DETRIT, MICHIGAN'.

anxrnranv 'rnusron nnvrcn ron encon-assesseurs.

l apecicatdon et Letters Patent. application alec-.nity t, una sei-iai no. romeo.

rammed aan. es,- rela.

Detroit, in the county of .Wayne, State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Auxiliary rlension Devices for Shock-bsorbers.; and l do dcwillenable others skilled in the art to'whichv it appertains'to make and use the saine, reference being had tothe accompan ing drawand to the characters o reference marked' ther-'com which form a part of this' specication.`

This. invention relates' to an' auxiliary tension device for shock absorbers es ecially designed for use on motor vehic es but adaptable for other purposes, and consists in the' construction and arrangement of parte hereinafter more ful-ly set forth and pointed out particularly in the claims. l

'lhe object of the -invention is to provide in connection with a device for labsorbing the shock imparted to the wheels, means for obvia-ting the setting of and' a consequent loss of'resilency to the main spring or tenav sion member'- by excessivecompression thereof due to unusual shocks.

'lhe above object is attained by the strucings, in which ligu laire"illustrated in the accompanying drawre 1 is an elevation ofthe frontaxle I of a vehicle showing generally the a pli jaw member -lih cation.. of myv invention. Fig. v2 is a ragmentary view partly in section,A illustratingv the position of parts when the auxiliary spring isbrought into operation, as when the wheel' encounters. an unusual obstruction. Fig. 3 is'. a similar View showing the position ofparts when the wheel drops into a depression: Fig. A4 isa horizontal sec tion, as gm line 44 of Fig;- 2.

l ferring to the drawings by the charactors of refcrcncemarked thereon, 1 designates the frontaxleofa `vehicle having at its ends the usual knuckle jaws 2'and 3, respectively'. Passing through the' upper Qat each end of the axle 1s a vertically disposed bolt '4,- whose end screws into the lower jaw member' 3J and is locked. by the nut 5. Embracing the bolt 4 between.

said. jaw membersisa sleeve 6.A Mounted to slide vertically upon the sleeve 6 between the jaws is a ttingor spindle member 7, carrying a .laterally projecting spindle 8 .ary or auxiliary spring f pose of adapted to receive the front wheel, not

shown. 'lthe bolt 4 extends some distance above the Jaw 2 and Ais threaded at its upper end to receive a cap 9 which is screwed v thereon and confined by the nut 10. From the cap 9 depends a cylindrical shell 11.

Proyecting upwardly from the spindle member 7 is a semi-circular wall 12 which embraces the bolt 4 and the end of the upper jaw 2. At the upper end of the semicircular walll 12 is a collar 13, end rising from said collar is a cylindrical shell 14 of a diameter to telescope within the cylindrical shell 11, as' shown, said parts being arranged to slide one over the other. Embracing a portion of the bolt 4 extending above the `upper jaw 2 is a'sleeve 15 which' is conncd by the nuts '16 threaded on said bolt and screwed against the upperend of said sleeve. Surroundingl the bolt 4 within the cylindrical shells 11 and 14, which serve as -an inclosing telescopic ,case therefor, is the main compressible spring 17, the upper end of said spring being engaged by the cap 9 which serves as an abutment therefor, and the lower end of said spring being engaged by the collar` 13 which is sldable'upon said bolt against the tension of said spring.

Fitted to slide upon the bolt 4 centrally thereof is a sleeve 18 whose upper end is danged at ing adapted by anextreme upward move-v ment of the collar 13 to engage the lower end of the sleeve 18 and move said sleeve upwardly against the acion of the second- 'It vhas been found, that-,- in shock absorbers of this character when a single springonly is employed, such-as the spring 1'1?, said spring will become set under extreme com# presslon due to unusual shocks and lose a portion of its resiliency. 1t is for the purpreventing the setting4 of the main spring and the consequentloss of resiliency t erem, that the secondary spring is employed.

19 to engage the uppermost of the nuts 16 and to support said sleeve from fur- The spindle members carrying the wheel spindles being free to move vertically upon the bolt 4 between the jaws of the lgiuclrle members at the ends of the axle, allow the wheels to rise when riding over an obstruc-l tion or to drop into a de ression whereby a small proportion only o said movement is imparted to the axle. Fig. l at the left illustrates the position when `the wheel is passing over an obstruction, and said yligure at the right illustrates the position when Vthe wheel is dropping into a depression in the roadway. The parts illustrate the exf treme of these two movements, yet the axle, as will be seen, remains substantially' in a horizontal plane whereby the shock due to the wheels encountering any inequalities in the road is absorbed in the springs and the axle is mainly relieved therefrom. WVhere an unusual obstruction is encountered the collar 1.3 will move upwardly upon the bolt/` 4 soas to cause the shoulder l1 to engage the lower end of the sleeve 18 and move said sleeve upwardly against the action of the auxiliary spring 20. The auxiliary spring .l thus being' brought into operation relieves 1 the main spring 17 and prevents an extreme' compression thereoiat the same time relieving the axlev from the shock which would otherwise result from a complete collapse of the main spring.

By screwing downwardly the'cap 9, any desired tension ymay be 'placed upon the springs.'

Eachof the spindle members Z is pro-V vided with a projecting arm 22 to which the ends of the connecting rod "23 are cona nected, respectively. "An arm 2A (see-Fig.

what I claim as new,

adapted'for attachment to the end o 1').extends from one of the spindle members for a connection ofthe steering nod, as will be well understood. Y Thefbody springs are shown at 25 in Fig. f1..f`

Theppening in the semi-circular wall 12 isssuiiicient to'Jallow the necessary swinging movementy g of rthe 'spindle 'member 'without causing? the'edges of said wall to encounter the upper jaw 2-oftheiknuckle. 1

Having thus full'y set forth my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is Mw. l.' An auxiliary tensioni-'device fonshock absorbers comprising ais-,vertical supfport an axle, a member slidable upon said support having a projecting wheel spindle, a collar slidable upon'l said 'support carried bythe spindle member, an abutment -at the u per end4 of said support, a main s ring vcon ed between said collar and' sai abutment, a member movable on said'supportimtermediate said collarand said abutment," and an auxiliary spring confined between said abutment and said intermediate movable member. l

2'. An auxiliary tension device for shock absorbers comprising avertical supportl adapted for attachment to the' end of an axle, a member slidable upon said support havinga projecting wheel spindle, a collar slidable upon saidsupport carried by said spindle member, an abutment at the upper end of said support, a main spring coniined between said collar and said abutment, a sleeve movable upon said support'intermediate said collar and 4said abutme t, and an auxiliary spring confinedy between said abut# ment and saidfmovable sleeve,l the lower j end of said sleeve extending into the'path of travel .of said collar. j

3. An auxiliary tension device for shock absorbersA comprising the "jaws 'of an axle end, a vertical support passing-through said jaws, a member slidable upon saidsupport betweensaidjaws and havin a projectin wheel spindle, a collar slida le uponsai support above the axle and carried by vsaid spindle member, an abutment at the u per end ofjsaid support, a mainspring co ned betwe'en said collar and said abutment, a

sleeve slidable upon said support interinsdiate 'said abutmentand said collar, the 'lower end ofv said sleeve adapted to be engaged by s'aid colla-r as it moves upwardly, and an auxiliary spring cenlined between said abutment and said sleeve.

' 4. A11-'auxiliary tension" device for shock absorbers comprising a vertical support adaptedl forattachment to the end of an axle, a member slidable upon said support having a projecting wheel spindle, acollar slidable upon said support carried by the spindlev member, anabutment at the upper end of said support, a main spring embracing said support land confined between said collar and said abutment, a sleeve vertically movableupon said support intermediate said abutment and -said col1a`r,,the lower: end of' said sleeve extending into the path of travel 'of said collar asit moves upwardly, means 

